Use Your Intuition

Modern schools love our analytical brain! They really do. We’re graded on how well we do math. When they give us a writing assignment, we usually have to analyze something. We compare. We contrast. We calculate. It’s hugely effective. Without that kind of thinking, we wouldn’t have podcasts, and you wouldn’t be listening to me, and that would be sad. But we also have other ways of coping with the world: intuition.

Your intuitive brain—also known as your unconscious mind—doesn’t work by logic, it works by recognizing patterns. And it communicates not in language, but in hunches and gut feelings.

When you have a hunch that something may be an opportunity, follow it up. You can’t get that paisley lycra jumpsuit out of your mind? Maybe that’s because your unconscious mind thinks it’s going to be the fashion trend of the century. Jump right in and do some exploration to find out if it’s an opportunity or a red herring.

(Hmm...red herring? Red Herring. Red...Herring...BONE. HERRINGBONE! Paisley is so 1970s. But herringbone just might be the fashion statement of the 2000s. Consider this a free tip from me to you!)

Boost Your Intuition

We know we can boost our analytical minds. That’s why we practice things like fractions (if you don’t practice fractions, zip over to Math Dude right now and get started). You can also boost your intuition so it gets even better at helping you spot intuition.

Calm your mind. Meditate. And reflect on past intuitions to help make your future intuitions even better.

My intuition used to go wild when I met a certain kind of charismatic businessperson. After having bad experiences with several of those people, I sat down to reflect. It became obvious that my attraction to that certain charisma had never steered me right, and always steered me wrong. Now, my intuition when encountering that charisma is to run, very quickly, in the opposite direction.

Expect Luck!

If you expect to be lucky, you’ll be much more apt to discover opportunity knocking at your door. Expect luck. Even if it’s unrealistic, expect it anyway. It’s unrealistic to expect a personal productivity podcast to reveal the little-known fact that Medusa secretly loved chocolate-covered gummy bears. But...well, it just happened. So there you go. Expect to be lucky.

Also, expect things to work out. Then, when things go wrong, you’ll keep pushing through. Because when you expect things to work out, you’ll surely think any setbacks are just temporary.

Pucker Up

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. So when you have bad luck, try to find the positive side. If there is no positive side, force it. And remember that sometimes, lemonade takes more than lemons. It also needs water and sugar. If turning your bad luck to good means rustling up extra resources, get hopping and turn that cloud into a silver lining. Then take steps to prevent more bad luck in the future.

“But Stever,” I hear you cry, “mixing cloud and lemonade metaphors is a horrible idea.” In prose, that’s true. But I can use this as the basis for epic free verse poetry and make millions.

It’s better to be lucky than skillful. And the skillful Dr. Wiseman has helped us understand how we can increase our skill at being lucky.

Make the most of opportunity.

Use your intuition.

Expect to be lucky.

Turn bad luck into good.

I’m Stever Robbins. Follow GetItDoneGuy on Twitter and Facebook. Join me to beat procrastination and get yourself moving with a “Get-it-Done Group.” Learn more at http://SteverRobbins.com.